Charter

Charter of the Society of Christ the King

Catholic faithful resolved to keep the faith in these times of apostasy, schisms and heresies; we renew the Profession of Faith of the Council of Trent and Vatican I. We support the 1910 Anti-Modernist Oath of Saint Pius X and the declaration of His Excellency Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre of November 21 th 1974.

We are committed to working for the Social Kingship of Our Lord Jesus Christ under the protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of Heaven and Earth, Mother of God and Mediatrix of all graces and St Joseph, Head of the Holy Family and Patron of the Universal Church.

We believe that one of the main duties of a Catholic is to defend this same Faith by fighting against Modernism: “sower of all heresies” (Encyclical Pascendi Dominici Gregis 1907).

Accordingly, we offer our support to authentically Catholic Bishops and priests that maintain the position of Archbishop Lefebvre pertaining to the crisis of the Church. We place ourselves under the supplied jurisdiction of these bishops and priests, appealing to the extraordinary circumstances provided for by Canon Law 1917 (196-210) and the extreme necessity in which the souls of the faithful find themselves.

With regard to the declaration of fidelity to the positions of the Society of St Pius X of June 1983 on the recognition of the Pope, the new mass and the liturgical reform of John XXIII, we are in perfect agreement with its principals, as elaborated by Archbishop Lefebvre in his conference, April 11th 1990.

This Profession of the Catholic Faith was established by the Bull "Injunctum nobis" of Pope Pius IV on November 13, 1564. It includes the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed (381) and in addition a firm adherence to the doctrines defined at the Council of Trent and Vatican I.

I, N.N. believe and profess with firm faith each and every truth which is contained in the Symbol of the Faith, or Nicene Creed, of which the Holy Roman Church makes use, namely:

I believe in one God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God. Born of the Father before all ages. God of God, Light of Light, true God of true God. Begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father: by Whom all things were made. Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven. And was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary: and was made Man. He was crucified also for us: suffered under Pontius Pilate, died, and was buried. And the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures. And He ascended into heaven: He sitteth at the right hand of the Father. And he shall come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead: of whose Kingdom there shall be no end. And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of life: Who proceedeth from the Father and the Son. Who together with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified: Who spoke by the Prophets. And in One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. I confess one Baptism for the remission of sins. And I look for the resurrection of the dead. And the life of the world to come. Amen.

I resolutely accept and embrace the traditions of the Apostles and all other traditions of the Church, and all its observances and regulations. Likewise, I accept the Sacred Scriptures in that very sense in which Holy Mother Church, whose right it is to declare their true sense and meaning, has held them and holds them now ; nor will I ever accept or interpret them in a way contrary to the unanimous agreement of the Fathers of the Church.

Further, I profess that there are seven true and proper Sacraments of the New Law, each instituted by Jesus Christ, Our Lord, for the salvation of the human race, (although all of them are not necessary for everyone), namely: Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Eucharist, Penance, Extreme Unction, Holy Orders and Matrimony ; that these confer grace and that, of these, Baptism, Confirmation and Holy Orders cannot be received a second time without sacrilege. Also, I accept and adhere to the rites of the solemn administration of the aforementioned Sacraments according as they have been accepted and approved by the Catholic Church. I embrace and accept each and every tenet concerning Original Sin and Justification which was defined and declared by the Sacred Council of Trent. I likewise affirm that in the Mass there is offered to God a true, worthy, and expiatory Sacrifice for the living and the dead ; and that the Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ, together with His Soul and Divinity, are really and substantially present in the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist, and that there occurs a change of the total substance of the bread into His Body and of the total substance of the wine into His Blood, which change, the Catholic Church calls Transubstantiation. I confess also that Christ, whole and entire, and the true Sacrament, are received under either species.

I firmly hold that there is a Purgatory and that the souls detained there are helped through the prayers of the faithful ; similarly, that the Saints who reign with Christ are to be venerated, and invoked, and that they offer their prayers to God for us, and that their relics should be venerated. I firmly assert that images of Christ and of the Mother of God ever Virgin, as well as of the other Saints, should be possessed and retained, and that they should be shown due honour and veneration. Also, I affirm that Christ left the power to grant indulgences to the Church and that these are most useful for the salvation of the Christian people. I acknowledge the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Roman Church to be the Mother and Teacher of all churches, and I vow and swear true obedience to the Roman Pontiff, the Vicar of Jesus Christ and the Successor of Blessed Peter, the Prince of the Apostles.

Moreover, I maintain and profess, without doubting, all the other teachings handed down, defined, and declared in the Sacred Canons by the Ecumenical Councils, especially by the Most Holy Council of Trent and by the First Ecumenical Vatican Council, particularly that of the Primacy and the Infallible Magisterium of the Roman Pontiff ; and at the same time I condemn, reject, and anathematise all opinions to the contrary and all heresies whatever which the Church condemns, rejects, and anathematises.

At this moment, the one who does his Profession of Faith, put his right hand on the open book of the holy Gospels and says:

I, N.N., promise [vow and swear (priests only)] that, with God’s help, I shall most constantly hold and profess this true Catholic Faith, outside which no one can be saved and which I now freely profess and truly hold. With the help of God, I shall profess it whole and unblemished to my dying breath ; and I shall strive as far as possible, that this same faith shall be held, taught, and publicly professed by all those who depend on me and by those of whom I shall have charge.

So help me God and His holy Gospels.

THE OATH AGAINST MODERNISM

(St. Pius X -1910)

I N.N., firmly embrace and accept each and every definition that has been set forth and declared by the unerring teaching authority of the Church, especially those principal truths which are directly opposed to the errors of this day.

And first of all, I profess that God, the origin and end of all things, can be known with certainty by the natural light of reason from the created world (see Rom. 1 :20), that is, from the visible works of creation, as a cause from its effects, and that, therefore, His existence can also be demonstrated.

Secondly, I accept and acknowledge the external proofs of revelation, that is, divine acts and especially miracles and prophecies as the surest signs of the divine origin of the Christian religion and I hold that these same proofs are well adapted to the understanding of all eras and all men, even of this time.

Thirdly, I believe with equally firm faith that the Church, the guardian and teacher of the revealed word, was personally instituted by the real and historical Christ, when He lived among us, and that the Church was built upon Peter, the prince of the apostolic hierarchy, and his successors, for the duration of time.

Fourthly, I sincerely hold that the doctrine of faith was handed down to us from the apostles through the orthodox Fathers, in exactly the same meaning and always in the same purport. Therefore, I entirely reject the heretical misrepresentation that dogmas evolve and change from one meaning to another, different from the one which the Church held previously. I also condemn every error according to which, in place of the divine deposit, which has been given to the spouse of Christ, to be carefully guarded by her, there is put a philosophical figment or product of a human conscience that has gradually been developed by human effort, and will continue to develop indefinitely.

Fifthly, I hold with certainty and sincerely confess that faith is not a blind sentiment of religion, welling up from the depths of the subconscious, under the impulse of the heart and the motion of a will trained to morality ; but faith is a genuine assent of the intellect to truth received by hearing from an external source. By this assent, because of the authority of the supremely truthful God, we believe to be true that which has been revealed and attested to by a personal God, our Creator and Lord.

Furthermore, with due reverence, I submit and adhere with my whole heart to the condemnations, declarations, and all the prescripts contained in the encyclical Pascendi, and in the decree Lamentabili, especially those concerning what is known as the history of dogmas.

I also reject the error of those who say that the faith held by the Church can contradict history, and that Catholic dogmas, in the sense in which they are now understood, are irreconcilable with a more realistic view of the origins of the Christian religion.

I also condemn and reject the opinion of those who say that a well-educated Christian assumes a dual personality - that of a believer and at the same time of a historian ; as if it were permissible for a historian to hold things that contradict the faith of the believer, or to establish premises which, provided there be no direct denial of dogmas, would lead to the conclusion that dogmas are either false or doubtful.

Likewise, I reject that method of judging and interpreting Sacred Scripture which, departing from the tradition of the Church, the analogy of faith, and the norms of the Apostolic See, embraces the misrepresentations of the rationalists, and with no prudence or restraint, adopts textual criticism as the one and supreme norm.

Furthermore, I reject the opinion of those who hold that a professor lecturing or writing on a historico-theological subject should first put aside any preconceived opinion about the supernatural origin of Catholic Tradition, or about the divine promise of help to preserve all revealed truth forever ; and that they should then interpret the writings of each of the Fathers, solely by scientific principles, excluding all sacred authority, and with the same liberty of judgement that is common in the investigation of all ordinary historical documents.

Finally, I declare that I am completely opposed to the error of the modernists who hold that there is nothing divine in sacred tradition ; or what is far worse, say that there is, but in a pantheistic sense, with the result that there would remain nothing but this plain simple fact – one to be put on a par with the ordinary facts of history – the fact, namely, that a group of men by their own labour, skill, and talent have continued through subsequent ages, a school begun by Christ and his apostles. I firmly hold, then, and shall hold to my dying breath, the belief of the Fathers in the charism of truth, which certainly is, was, and always will be, in the succession of the episcopacy from the apostles (Iren. IV. C.26). The purpose of this is, then, not that dogma may be tailored according to what seems better and more suited to the culture of each age ; rather, that the absolute and immutable truth preached by the apostles from the beginning may never be believed to be different, may never be understood in any other way.

I promise that I shall keep all these articles faithfully, entirely, and sincerely, and guard them inviolate, in no way deviating from them in teaching or in any way in word or in writing. Thus I promise, thus I swear, so help me God and His holy Gospel.

DECLARATION OF ARCHBISHOP LEFEBVRE

(November 21, 1974)

This declaration of Faith was made to clarify the position a Catholic must hold, when he finds himself confronted by liberalism in the hierarchy of the Church. It sums up the position of the Society of St. Pius X.

We hold firmly with all our heart and with all our mind to Catholic Rome, guardian of the Catholic Faith and of the traditions necessary to the maintenance of this faith, to the Eternal Rome, mistress of wisdom and truth.

We refuse on the other hand, and have always refused, to follow the Rome of Neo-Modernist and Neo-Protestant tendencies, which became clearly manifest during the Second Vatican Council, and after the Council, in all the reforms which issued from it.

In effect, all these reforms have contributed and continue to contribute to the destruction of the Church, to the ruin of the priesthood, to the abolition of the Sacrifice of the Mass and the Sacraments, to the disappearance of the religious life, and to a naturalistic and Teilhardian education in the universities, in the seminaries, in catechetics: an education deriving from Liberalism and Protestantism which had been condemned many times by the solemn Magisterium of the Church.

No authority, not even the highest in the hierarchy, can compel us to abandon or to diminish our Catholic Faith, so clearly expressed and professed by the Church’s Magisterium, for nineteen centuries.

"Friends," said St. Paul, "though it were we ourselves, though it were an angel from heaven that should preach to you a gospel, other than the gospel we have preached to you, a curse upon him" (Gal. 18).

Is it not this, the Holy Father is repeating to us today? And if there is a certain contradiction manifest in his words and deeds, as well as in the acts of the dicasteries, then we cleave to what has always been taught and we turn a deaf ear to the novelties which destroy the Church.

It is impossible to profoundly modify the Lex Orandi without modifying the Lex Credendi. To the New Mass there corresponds the new catechism, the new priesthood, the new seminaries, the new universities, the "Charismatic" Church, Pentecostalism: all of them opposed to orthodoxy and the never -changing Magisterium.

This reformation, deriving as it does from Liberalism and Modernism, is entirely corrupted ; it derives from heresy and results in heresy, even if all its acts are not formally heretical. It is therefore impossible for any conscientious and faithful Catholic to espouse this reformation and to submit to it in any way whatsoever.

The only attitude of fidelity to the Church and to Catholic Doctrine, appropriate for our salvation, is a categorical refusal to accept this reformation.

That is why, without any rebellion, bitterness, or resentment, we pursue our work of priestly formation under the guidance of the never-changing Magisterium, convinced as we are, that we cannot possibly render a greater service to the Holy Catholic Church, to the Sovereign Pontiff, and to posterity.

That is why we hold firmly to everything that has been consistently taught and practised by the Church (and codified in books, published before the Modernist influence of the Council) concerning faith, morals, divine worship, catechetics, priestly formation, and the institution of the Church, until such time as the true light of tradition dissipates the gloom, which obscures the sky of the Eternal Rome.

Doing this, with the grace of God, the help of the Virgin Mary, St. Joseph, and St. Pius X, we are certain that we are being faithful to the Catholic and Roman Church, to all of Peter’s successors, and of being the “Fideles dispensatores Mysteriorum Domini Nostri Jesu Christi in Spiritu Sancto ".[1]

[1]“Faithful dispensers of the Mysteries of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Holy Ghost.”